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Libertarian

By Libertarian
in Grand Rapids

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MJLO
MJLO

Yeah I'll say I definitely appreciate the community on here.  Not really any hair on fire trolls that are pissed off or resentful of their past.  While we have our disagreements it tends to be pretty

GRLaker
GRLaker

I made my own list. It's called the GRLaker's Top 10 Cities to Buy, Rent, and Invest. We're #s 1-10. 

RiversideGR
RiversideGR

I think this is a good one:

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GR_Urbanist Burg

GR_Urbanist

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Posted (edited)

DT GR is really hard to take a nice photo of. Our buildings are too uniform in height, and not clustered.

We also have no real signature tower and the existing tall buildings are too generic. It is the quintessential mid-sized Anytown U.S.A..

 

Your only choice is to try to make a bunch of boring (mostly old) high-rises look good together (more or less the type of photo on the cover of a phone book), or show a wide-shot of some really vague places.

Edited by GR_Urbanist
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GRLaker Hamlet

GRLaker

Posted
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2 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

DT GR is really hard to take a nice photo of. Our buildings are too uniform in height, and not clustered.

We also have no real signature tower and the existing tall buildings are too generic. It is the quintessential mid-sized Anytown U.S.A..

 

Your only choice is to try to make a bunch of boring (mostly old) high-rises look good together (more or less the type of photo on the cover of a phone book), or show a wide-shot of some really vague places.

True...I was just thinking the other day that our tallest buildings are too clustered around the river. The downtown has little depth due to its lack of height away from the river.

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ChevalierNoir Unincorporated Area

ChevalierNoir

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9 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

True...I was just thinking the other day that our tallest buildings are too clustered around the river. The downtown has little depth due to its lack of height away from the river.

I always felt like the view from the south, near the beginning of the S-curve was the most interesting, even though most of the tallest buildings are in front of each other from that angle. At least you can see the Children's hospital, McKay, etc. 

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RegalTDP Burg

RegalTDP

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

DT GR is really hard to take a nice photo of. Our buildings are too uniform in height, and not clustered.

We also have no real signature tower and the existing tall buildings are too generic. It is the quintessential mid-sized Anytown U.S.A..

 

Your only choice is to try to make a bunch of boring (mostly old) high-rises look good together (more or less the type of photo on the cover of a phone book), or show a wide-shot of some really vague places.

5 hours ago, GRLaker said:

True...I was just thinking the other day that our tallest buildings are too clustered around the river. The downtown has little depth due to its lack of height away from the river.

I think we on UrbanPlanet are just jaded because we see a lot of the same pictures of Downtown GR floating around.  There are some great cityscape and/or vibrant streetscape shots of GR out there, they just never seem to make it on these city-ranking listicles.

Recently another poster somewhere (I think it was @GRDadof3) suggested we embrace 12 stories and make it our thing.  I agree.  I would love it if GR became the DC of the Midwest.

 

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
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14 minutes ago, RegalTDP said:

I think we on UrbanPlanet are just jaded because we see a lot of the same pictures of Downtown GR floating around.  There are some great cityscape and/or vibrant streetscape shots of GR out there, they just never seem to make it on these city-ranking listicles.

Recently another poster somewhere (I think it was @GRDadof3) suggested we embrace 12 stories and make it our thing.  I agree.  I would love it if GR became the DC of the Midwest.

 

I agree. I think our city looks pretty darn good, and continues getting better. :)

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MJLO City

MJLO

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, Pattmost20 said:

I mean it may be overused, but for national lists why not just a simple image from Ah-Nab-Awen park?

GR.jpg

I always think that shot is a pretty picture.  However in the parts of 3 decades that i've been associated with W. Michigan I do think it's worn out.  It captures the riverfront shot, but makes Grand Rapids look like a Cedar Rapids or Fort Wayne.  It doesn't capture the scope or spirit of the area.  We have a vibrant city center with a more diverse skyline.  Why not have more pictures that show it instead of a picture that says "This is Grand Rapids, do you like our 3 buildings?"

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Allison Slater Town

Allison Slater

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, RegalTDP said:

Recently another poster somewhere (I think it was @GRDadof3) suggested we embrace 12 stories and make it our thing.  I agree.  I would love it if GR became the DC of the Midwest.

But DC has some incredibly iconic and distinct monuments among all of those shorter buildings which really makes it pop.  We don't have that.  Tokyo is largely 12-ish storey buildings (although it does have some skyscrapers, too), but it, too, has some very iconic locales that really make it pop.  (Tokyo tower, contrast between historic temples and modern buildings, areas that are essentially a Times Square of Japan, etc.)  We don't have that.

No matter what, whether it's a large tower, a low monument, or something in between, we need something iconic that really stands out and separates us from all of the other cities to be anything other than just another Fort Wayne.  The river, as much as we like it, even with rapids, is not going to ever be that icon.  And the kitschy table and chairs on top of the blue bridge was iconic, but the wrong kind of icon. (Thank goodness it was just temporary.)

That said, I think one of the best shots we could have at this time would be a shot of Ionia SW, being sure to get a hint of taller buildings in the background without really showing those taller buildings.  That way it takes a focus on a picturesque built environment while suggesting there's a lot more without showing what that "more" is.  If there were some tall buildings behind the GRAM that stood out above, that'd also be a fantastic potential using what we have.

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RegalTDP Burg

RegalTDP

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On 3/1/2018 at 10:14 AM, tSlater said:

But DC has some incredibly iconic and distinct monuments among all of those shorter buildings which really makes it pop.  We don't have that.  Tokyo is largely 12-ish storey buildings (although it does have some skyscrapers, too), but it, too, has some very iconic locales that really make it pop.  (Tokyo tower, contrast between historic temples and modern buildings, areas that are essentially a Times Square of Japan, etc.)  We don't have that.

No matter what, whether it's a large tower, a low monument, or something in between, we need something iconic that really stands out and separates us from all of the other cities to be anything other than just another Fort Wayne.  The river, as much as we like it, even with rapids, is not going to ever be that icon.  And the kitschy table and chairs on top of the blue bridge was iconic, but the wrong kind of icon. (Thank goodness it was just temporary.)

That said, I think one of the best shots we could have at this time would be a shot of Ionia SW, being sure to get a hint of taller buildings in the background without really showing those taller buildings.  That way it takes a focus on a picturesque built environment while suggesting there's a lot more without showing what that "more" is.  If there were some tall buildings behind the GRAM that stood out above, that'd also be a fantastic potential using what we have.

I now regret typing the words "DC of the Midwest" because I didn't mean to invite comparisons with DC, but I know what you're saying.  I'm all for building more stuff and iconic landmarks and everything.  But if your implication is that Downtown GR, as it is currently, feels or looks indistinct from other cities, I don't agree with that at all.  I'm not sure exactly what scale of landmark "makes" a downtown generally, but GR has its own features that, while small, add up to its own unique style.

Example: Blue Bridge in and of itself is iconic. it's no Statue of Liberty, and it's no marvel of engineering, but it's still uniquely GR.  In every other city with a truss bridge, they look like rusted symbols of decaying industry.  I can't think of another place  that preserves repaints, lights up at night, and uses them as public thoroughfares.  Maybe there are, but I haven't seen it.  Sixth Street Bridge, also, was almost demolished in 1975, but the community rallied to save it.  We're never going to need a giant majestic suspension bridge across the Grand River, so what did we do?  Of course, we embraced our truss bridges.  They are symbols of both GR's past and its modern rebirth - and people recognize that even if they don't bother to learn the bridges' specific histories.  I mean, people actually get married on Blue Bridge - on how many truss bridges have you seen that happen?  Why would people do that if Downtown wasn't an arresting backdrop?

Don't mean to go on so long about bridges, but that's just one example.  There really is no place in the world like GR.  And I don't know why Fort Wayne is apparently everyone's favorite punching bag on this forum, but we have nothing to prove over them (or them over us, for that matter).

 

 

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Another click-bait list, but this one is classic because it's like they got tired of trying to find pictures of all of these cities. Like one is just a traffic signal and another is a couple holding hands. :rofl: Raleigh-Durham looks like a classroom that is part of a crime scene... wtf.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Best-Metro-Areas-Cities-NYC-America-479360293.html

Here's the click-bait source for the click-bait article:

https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/slideshows/25-best-places-to-live-in-the-us

Grand Rapids is #12 because 12 is our number. :blink:

The meaning of 12, which is considered a perfect number, is that it symbolizes God's power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or the nation of Israel as a whole. For example, Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons, each of which represented a tribe begun by a prince, for 12 princes total. Ishmael, who was born to Abraham through Hagar, also had twelve princes.

12 apostles, 12 baskets of bread, 12 stories... 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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The ATX City

The ATX

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Posted

I know , every city makes it on a Travel Channel food/drink episode eventually.  But today I watched an episode about America's brew cities, and there was a nice episode about G.R. that featured Founders.  That's definitely one of the places I'm visiting on my next trip back home.

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